Manuel Urrutia Lleo

Manuel Urrutia Lleo (8 December 1901-5 July 1981) was President of Cuba from 1 January to 18 July 1959, succeeding Carlos Modesto Piedra and preceding Osvaldo Dorticos Torrado.

Biography
Manuel Urrutia Lleo was born in Yaguajay, Cuba in 1901, and he was a leader in the civil resistance movement against Fulgencio Batista's conservative dictatorship during the Cuban Revolution. Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement supported him as the next President of Cuba as early as the summer of 1958, as he was an educated liberal and Christian who would be acceptable to the United States. He successfully lobbied for the USA to halt arms shipments to Batista's regime, and he operated from exile in Venezuela. On 1 January 1959, he became the new President of Cuba following the end of the violent struggle, and his government consisted largely of political veterans and pro-business liberals including Jose Miro Cardona, who was appointed Prime Minister. Urrutia closed all brothels, gambling outlets, and the national lottery to end corruption, but the large associated workforce's anger at this led to Castro seeking to delay the implementation of this law. Castro also push for pay cuts for public officials, and Castro gained more power by becoming Prime Minister following Miro's resignation. In July 1959, the head of the sugar workers' union demanded Urrutia's resignation, and he went into exile in Queens, New York City.